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Partnership Launches All-Electric Apartment Community

The Soleil Lofts project to provide emergency back-up power, daily management of peak energy use, and demand response for the overall management of the electric grid.

Sep 05, 2019

The partnership between sonnen, the Wasatch Group, and Rocky Mountain Power recently launched a first-of-a-kind network of solar powered battery storage systems — better known as a virtual power plant (VPP) — for the benefit of the community and the electric system. Upon completion, the Soleil Lofts community in Herriman, Utah will be the largest fully installed and operational residential battery demand response solution in the United States.

The Soleil Lofts apartment community represents an all-electric residential community design that standardizes on-site energy storage in every unit. The project features over 600 individual sonnen ecoLinx batteries, totaling 12.6 MWh of solar energy storage that is managed by Rocky Mountain Power, to provide emergency back-up power, daily management of peak energy use, and demand response for the overall management of the electric grid.

"As the developer of Soleil Lofts, we started with the firm belief we could build a community that was solving the Salt Lake Valley’s serious air quality issues today and in the future. That belief led us to partner with Rocky Mountain Power, sonnen, and Auric Energy for the development of an all-electric community using solar and batteries," said Dell Loy Hansen, CEO of the Wasatch Group. "Soleil Lofts is based on the fact that sonnen’s ecoLinx is the safest, longest lasting battery which can deliver utility grid services for decades of operation."

"The combination of solar and long lasting, safe, intelligent energy storage managed by the local utility is an essential component to the clean energy grid of the future. The solar industry should find inspiration in this extraordinary project, as it provides a blueprint for the future of grid optimized battery storage," said Blake Richetta, chairman and CEO of sonnen Inc.

"Not only does Soleil Lofts all-electric community help improve air quality along the Wasatch Front in Utah, the project will create a platform for managing batteries for other customers we serve, as well. This partnership enables an innovative solution to provide low-cost utility services not otherwise possible. We are honored to work with customers such as the Wasatch Group, to help innovate for the future and make the lives of all our customers better every day," said Gary Hoogeveen, Rocky Mountain Power CEO.

Residents will begin moving into the Soleil Lofts apartments in September 2019 and the final building will be complete in December 2020.